{"id":13209,"date":"2024-10-16T20:20:32","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T19:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=13209"},"modified":"2024-10-16T20:20:32","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T19:20:32","slug":"imran-khan-blocked-as-oxford-chancellor-candidate-but-zumba-enthusiast-allowed-to-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/world-news\/imran-khan-blocked-as-oxford-chancellor-candidate-but-zumba-enthusiast-allowed-to-stand\/2024\/10\/16\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"Imran Khan blocked as Oxford chancellor candidate \u2013 but Zumba enthusiast allowed to stand"},"content":{"rendered":"

OXFORD,Oct 16\/TT\/ — Imran Khan<\/a>\u00a0has been blocked from running as Oxford University chancellor, despite a\u00a0Zumba\u00a0<\/a>enthusiast, an \u201canti-woke\u201d vicar and an Amazon warehouse worker all being deemed eligible candidates.<\/p>\n

Mr Khan<\/a>\u00a0is now understood to be considering legal action against the university, after it failed to give him a reason for his disqualification.<\/p>\n

Oxford University<\/a>\u00a0published its list of 38 official candidates vying to replace Lord Patten on Wednesday, as the current\u00a0chancellor\u00a0<\/a>prepares to step down this month after 21 years in the role.<\/p>\n

However, the list of those deemed eligible to enter the race does not include\u00a0Mr Khan<\/a>, despite\u00a0the former Pakistani prime minister<\/a>\u00a0submitting a formal application.<\/p>\n

Lawyers acting on behalf of the jailed politician have written to Oxford University demanding an explanation for his elimination from the race, The Telegraph has been told.<\/p>\n

Zulfi Bukhari,\u00a0Mr Khan\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0special adviser, said his team was prepared to use \u201call legal possibilities\u201d to establish the reasons behind the university\u2019s decision to exclude him.<\/p>\n

Mr Khan is\u00a0serving a 10-year jail sentence<\/a>\u00a0in Pakistan after being\u00a0accused of stoking protests<\/a>\u00a0and violence against the country\u2019s all-powerful military last year. The former leader of the country claims the\u00a0charges are politically motivated<\/a>\u00a0and designed to keep him out of power.<\/p>\n

His lawyers have argued that all convictions have either been overturned or suspended, despite him remaining in jail.<\/p>\n

Oxford University declined to comment on why\u00a0Mr Khan<\/a>\u00a0was deemed ineligible when approached by The Telegraph. In a statement, the university said \u201capplications were considered by the chancellor\u2019s election committee solely on the four exclusion criteria set out in the university\u2019s regulations\u201d.<\/p>\n

Voting to select the next Oxford chancellor will open up to students, staff and alumni later this month, but the initial candidate list was whittled down solely by the university over the summer.<\/p>\n

The exclusion criteria stated that candidates must not be students or employees at Oxford University, nor \u201ca serving member of, or a declared candidate for election to, an elected legislature\u201d.<\/p>\n

The university also prohibited any applicants who have been \u201cdisqualified from being a charity trustee\u2026 or subject to a disqualification order made by the Charity Commission\u201d. Candidates must also be a \u201cfit and proper person\u201d as determined by guidance published from time to time by His Majesty\u2019s Revenue & Customs\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018We took the advice of KCs\u2019<\/h2>\n

Mr Bukhari said: \u201cWhen you go through all four conditions, he meets all of them. Now lawyers have written to them [Oxford University] \u2013 we want to categorically know under what precondition has he not qualified.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaturally, before applying for this role we took the advice of KCs, top solicitors across the country, barristers \u2013 and with their consent and their opinion did we go ahead. So legally there is no reason why\u00a0Imran Khan<\/a>\u00a0should not be allowed to contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure we will get to the bottom of it. We will use all legal possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Telegraph has seen a legal document from a top London law firm that concluded that\u00a0Mr Khan<\/a>\u00a0was likely ineligible to become Oxford Chancellor \u201cin light of one of his criminal convictions\u201d. It is understood that the legal opinion was written by Hugh Southey KC, a leading lawyer working at Matrix Chambers.<\/p>\n

Oxford University declined to comment on whether it had any involvement in commissioning the legal opinion.<\/p>\n

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office was not involved in the vetting process, The Telegraph understands.<\/p>\n

Mr Khan\u2019s application to become Oxford chancellor was widely perceived as an attempt to draw attention to his\u00a0political plight<\/a>, and he was considered one of the four main frontrunners despite a backlash from some alumni.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OXFORD,Oct 16\/TT\/ — Imran Khan\u00a0has been blocked from running as Oxford University chancellor, despite a\u00a0Zumba\u00a0enthusiast, an \u201canti-woke\u201d vicar and an Amazon warehouse worker all being deemed eligible candidates. Mr Khan\u00a0is now understood to be considering legal action against the university, after it failed to give him a reason for his disqualification. Oxford University\u00a0published its list […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[8273],"tags":[56,4838,9080,9081],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/imran-khan.jpeg","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13209"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13211,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13209\/revisions\/13211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}